New migrant boat disaster off Lampedusa

Alfano says EU is not 'helping' Italy with crisis

(ANSA) - Rome, May 12 - A boat packed with migrants sank
Monday about 100 miles off the coast of the southern Italian
island of Lampedusa, killing at least 14 while about 200 others
were rescued, the Coast Guard said.
The wreck follows a similar sinking off the coast of Libya
on Sunday, in which as many as 40 European-bound migrants died.
The European Union said Monday it was shocked by the latest
migrant deaths over two days south of Italy and urged member
states to "show solidarity" in dealing with the crisis.
Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said the EU's council of
interior ministers would discuss the issue at its next meeting.
Monday's sinking occurred near an offshore Libyan oil
derrick after a nearby merchant ship was alerted to its unsafe
conditions, officials said.
In a program called Mare Nostrum (Our Sea), Italy has
ramped up search-and-rescue missions around its sea boarders
since last October when two wrecks off the coast of Sicily
killed roughly 400 migrants.
Italian Minister of the Interior Angelino Alfano said the
European Union isn't "helping" Italy sufficiently to cope with
its migrant crisis.
"Our ships were there to recover the dead and rescue
survivors," he said in Bologna.
"Europe is not helping us. It lets us accommodate the
survivors", said Alfano.
He added that Italy risks becoming "a prison for
political refugees" if greater assistance is not guaranteed.
Alfano has previously said that Europe will have to do more
to support Italy, which is on the front lines of the sea
arrivals of migrants.
Italian Red Cross President Francesco Rocca called for the
creation of a "humanitarian corridor" which he said was
"urgently" needed in response to the sinkings.
He called on greater support for rescue and resettlement
efforts from the European Union.
A similar plea came from Italy's Justice Minister Andrea
Orlando who complained of a "cooperation deficit" at the EU and
international level.
"We await a strong signal," he added.
"A leap forward is needed".
Rome has also complained the EU is not doing enough to help
Italy to police a key part of its southern border, which
thousands of migrants from North Africa head for every year.
Last week, as many as 1,000 migrants landed in Sicily, the
latest arrivals adding to the total of about 30,000 rescued
since the start of the Mare Nostrum operation, according to
figures released last Wednesday by Defence Minister Roberta
Pinotti.
Most of them are from sub-Saharan Africa including war-torn
countries like South Sudan, while an increasing number are from
Syria and the Palestinian Territories.
The interior ministry said earlier this month that 800,000
asylum seekers were "poised" to set off for Europe from North
Africa.
Issues around migration, including the rescue and care of
illegal migrants, is a hot-button issue in Italy where last week
a row erupted between the anti-immigrant Northern League and the
interior ministry.